}}'''Tolkien Gateway''' (or simply '''TG''') is a not-for-profit collaborative [[wikipedia:wiki|wiki]] devoted to the [[Index:Writings by J.R.R. Tolkien|works]] of [[J.R.R. Tolkien]], being the largest Tolkien-related encyclopedia on [[wikipedia:Internet|Internet]].<ref name="List">"[[List of Tolkien Encyclopedias|List of Tolkien Encyclopedias]]", based on research by [[User:Mith|Mith]] (accessed [[19 November|November 19]] [[2010]])</ref> It strives to be the most extensive and complete online resource with content relating not just to the works of [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] but also information on Tolkien-related images, adaptations, people, places, events, societies, and other works of scholarly and academic interest.

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}}'''Tolkien Gateway''' (or simply '''TG''') is a not-for-profit collaborative [[wikipedia:wiki|wiki]] devoted to the [[Index:Writings by J.R.R. Tolkien|works]] of [[J.R.R. Tolkien]], being the largest Tolkien-related encyclopedia on the [[wikipedia:World Wide Web|World Wide Web]].<ref name="List">"[[List of Tolkien Encyclopedias|List of Tolkien Encyclopedias]]", based on research by [[User:Mith|Mith]] (accessed [[19 November|November 19]] [[2010]])</ref> It strives to be the most extensive and complete online resource with content relating not just to the works of [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] but also information on Tolkien-related images, adaptations, people, places, events, societies, and other works of scholarly and academic interest.

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Inspired by the recent release of ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy]]'', Tolkien Gateway was founded by [[User:Hyarion|Hyarion]] on [[1 January|January 1]], [[2003]] as [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://tolkiengateway.cjb.net http://tolkiengateway.cjb.net], then [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://tolkiengateway.tk http://tolkiengateway.tk], before eventually opening up as [http://tolkiengateway.net http://tolkiengateway.net] on [[3 June|June 3]], [[2005]]. Tolkien Gateway uses the same [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki MediaWiki] software as [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] and [http://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia] whilst operating a [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html GNU-FDL] licence. Tolkien Gateway has a [http://wikiindex.org/Category:WikiFactor wikifactor] of 39.

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Inspired by the recent release of ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy]]'', Tolkien Gateway was founded by [[User:Hyarion|Hyarion]] on [[1 January|January 1]], [[2003]] as [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://tolkiengateway.cjb.net http://tolkiengateway.cjb.net], then [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://tolkiengateway.tk http://tolkiengateway.tk], before eventually opening up as [http://tolkiengateway.net http://tolkiengateway.net] on [[3 June|June 3]], [[2005]]. Tolkien Gateway uses the same [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki MediaWiki] software as [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] and [http://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia] whilst operating a [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html GNU-FDL] licence. Tolkien Gateway has a [http://wikiindex.org/Category:WikiFactor wikifactor] of 52.<ref>Personal research by [[User:Amroth|Amroth]]</ref>

==Objective==

==Objective==

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{{blockquote|Tolkien Gateway is determined to inform you as much as possible about J.R.R. Tolkien and his masterpieces. Our goal is to have the most complete database about Middle-earth and Tolkien as possible.|[[User:Hyarion|Hyarion]]}}

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{{Blockquote|Tolkien Gateway is determined to inform you as much as possible about J.R.R. Tolkien and his masterpieces. Our goal is to have the most complete database about Middle-earth and Tolkien as possible.|[[User:Hyarion|Hyarion]]}}

On [[6 November|November 6]], Hyarion purchased the domain [http://tolkiengateway.net http://tolkiengateway.net] and begins work on creating a proper wiki. By [[March]] [[2005]], the original TolkienGateway has gone offline so Hyarion can focus on the new website.<ref name="Archive TK"/>

On [[6 November|November 6]], Hyarion purchased the domain [http://tolkiengateway.net http://tolkiengateway.net] and begins work on creating a proper wiki. By [[March]] [[2005]], the original TolkienGateway has gone offline so Hyarion can focus on the new website.<ref name="Archive TK"/>

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====2006====

====2006====

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On [[1 January|January 1]] [[2006]] Hyarion opened a second website, [[Tolkien News]], as a another source of information, in competition with [http://www.theonering.net TheOneRing.net], but without the commercial advertising. The website closed in [[2008]]

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On [[1 January|January 1]] [[2006]] Hyarion opened a second website, [[Tolkien News]], as a another source of information, in competition with [http://www.theonering.net TheOneRing.net], but without the commercial advertising. The website closed in [[2008]].

Technically, 2006 was a very important year for Tolkien Gateway: it saw the introduction of the fresh Cavendish skin, the creation of a forum for editors to discuss important issues, a community portal, and the ability to embed video. Furthermore, 2006 witnessed impressive growth in page views: from less than 200,000 page views at the start of the year to a million by October, by this point Tolkien Gateway was also witnessing 3,000 pages views per day.<ref name="2006u">"[[Tolkien Gateway:Updates#2006]]" (accessed [[21 November|November 21]], [[2010]])</ref>

Technically, 2006 was a very important year for Tolkien Gateway: it saw the introduction of the fresh Cavendish skin, the creation of a forum for editors to discuss important issues, a community portal, and the ability to embed video. Furthermore, 2006 witnessed impressive growth in page views: from less than 200,000 page views at the start of the year to a million by October, by this point Tolkien Gateway was also witnessing 3,000 pages views per day.<ref name="2006u">"[[Tolkien Gateway:Updates#2006]]" (accessed [[21 November|November 21]], [[2010]])</ref>

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In the summer, Hyarion revealed to editors that [[Forum:One Wiki Merge|he had been in discussions]] with the the administrators of [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page One Wiki to Rule Them All], the Tolkien encyclopedia of [http://www.wikia.com Wikia], to merge the two sites together. Although the proposal wasn't fully fleshed-out, members of both communities got so far as [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/LOTR:Merge_Vote registering their intention to vote] on the issue before Wikia staff decided they were unwilling to let go of their own site - the merger never took place.<ref name="Merge talk">"[[User talk:Hyarion#Merge]]" (accessed [[21 November|November 21]], [[2010]])</ref> A happy side-effect, however, is that many One Wiki editors migrated permanently to Tolkien Gateway, including the One Wiki bureaucrat [[User:KingAragorn|KingAragorn]].<ref name="Merge talk2">"[[User talk:Hyarion/Archive 4#Merge]]" (accessed [[21 November|November 21]], [[2010]])</ref>

In the summer, Hyarion revealed to editors that [[Forum:One Wiki Merge|he had been in discussions]] with the the administrators of [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page One Wiki to Rule Them All], the Tolkien encyclopedia of [http://www.wikia.com Wikia], to merge the two sites together. Although the proposal wasn't fully fleshed-out, members of both communities got so far as [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/LOTR:Merge_Vote registering their intention to vote] on the issue before Wikia staff decided they were unwilling to let go of their own site - the merger never took place.<ref name="Merge talk">"[[User talk:Hyarion#Merge]]" (accessed [[21 November|November 21]], [[2010]])</ref> A happy side-effect, however, is that many One Wiki editors migrated permanently to Tolkien Gateway, including the One Wiki bureaucrat [[User:KingAragorn|KingAragorn]].<ref name="Merge talk2">"[[User talk:Hyarion/Archive 4#Merge]]" (accessed [[21 November|November 21]], [[2010]])</ref>

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{{blockquote|what a shame. It's almost comical that they ignored the wiki until there were any talks of leaving, at which point they realized they'd be losing money so they now have all of their employees pretending to be active contributors. Anyway, we're moving past it, they are not worth the time|[[User:Hyarion|Hyarion]] on [http://www.wikia.com Wikia]'s staff attitude towards a merger of Tolkien Gateway and [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page One Wiki to Rule Them All]<ref name="Merge talk2"/>}}

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{{Blockquote|what a shame. It's almost comical that they ignored the wiki until there were any talks of leaving, at which point they realized they'd be losing money so they now have all of their employees pretending to be active contributors. Anyway, we're moving past it, they are not worth the time|[[User:Hyarion|Hyarion]] on [http://www.wikia.com Wikia]'s staff attitude towards a merger of Tolkien Gateway and [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page One Wiki to Rule Them All]<ref name="Merge talk2"/>}}

The second seminal event of 2008 was the introduction of [[Tolkien Gateway:Meetings|Meetings]]. The [[Tolkien Gateway:Meetings/17 August 2008|first meeting]] was held on August 17, 2008; following the first meeting, Tolkien Gateway saw its very first promotion of [[User:Ederchil|Ederchil]] to [[Tolkien Gateway:Administrators|administrator]], an expansion of [[Tolkien Gateway:Projects|Projects]] to focus the activities of members, and a more extensive [[Tolkien Gateway:Community Portal|Community Portal]].<ref name="Meeting 1">"[[Tolkien Gateway:Meetings/17 August 2008]]" (accessed [[21 November|November 21]], [[2010]])</ref> Meetings continued on a weekly basis until [[October]].<ref name="Meetings">"[[Tolkien Gateway:Meetings]]" (accessed [[21 November|November 21]], [[2010]])</ref>

The second seminal event of 2008 was the introduction of [[Tolkien Gateway:Meetings|Meetings]]. The [[Tolkien Gateway:Meetings/17 August 2008|first meeting]] was held on August 17, 2008; following the first meeting, Tolkien Gateway saw its very first promotion of [[User:Ederchil|Ederchil]] to [[Tolkien Gateway:Administrators|administrator]], an expansion of [[Tolkien Gateway:Projects|Projects]] to focus the activities of members, and a more extensive [[Tolkien Gateway:Community Portal|Community Portal]].<ref name="Meeting 1">"[[Tolkien Gateway:Meetings/17 August 2008]]" (accessed [[21 November|November 21]], [[2010]])</ref> Meetings continued on a weekly basis until [[October]].<ref name="Meetings">"[[Tolkien Gateway:Meetings]]" (accessed [[21 November|November 21]], [[2010]])</ref>

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[[User:KingAragorn|KingAragorn]], on [[25 August]], approached [[TheOneRing.net]] with a proposal that Tolkien Gateway and TheOneRing.net should work in cooperation. The discussion was, at first, positive; it was mooted that Tolkien Gateway would, in effect, become TheOneRing.net's encyclopaedia, and that TheOneRing.net would become Tolkien Gateway's news portal. Therefore the community of both websites would have been shared for the benefit of each other. Whilst TheOneRing.net had high praise for Tolkien Gateway, discussions ceased because of an apparent bad history between [[User:Hyarion|Hyarion]], the owner and then the only admin of Tolkien Gateway, and TheOneRing.net. It was argued that Hyarion ''"burned a lot of bridges"''. Despite the best efforts of KingAragorn to build a new bridge, it soon became clear that relationship between the two websites would not materialise.<ref>Personal research by [[User:KingAragorn|]]</ref>

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On [[25 August]], [[User:KingAragorn|KingAragorn]] contacted [[TheOneRing.net]] with a proposition that Tolkien Gateway and TheOneRing.net should work in co-operation. The general premise was that the two online Tolkien communities were consubstantial and should, therefore, work together for each other's benefit. The discussion was, at first, progressive; it was mooted that, in effect, Tolkien Gateway would become TheOneRing.net's encyclopaedia, and that TheOneRing.net would become Tolkien Gateway's news portal. However, discussions came to an end because of an apparent bad history between [[User:Hyarion|Hyarion]], the owner of Tolkien Gateway, and TheOneRing.net. Whilst there was reciprocal praise for the work achieved by both communities, no further discussions took place.<ref>Personal research by [[User:KingAragorn|KingAragorn]]</ref>

During this time, many key projects were embarked upon by editors: the relatively new editor [[User:Morgan|Morgan]] working on bibliographical information;<ref name="Works">"[[Index:Writings by J.R.R. Tolkien|Writings by J.R.R. Tolkien]]" (accessed [[24 November|November 24]], [[2010]])</ref> Mith working on the [[Timeline]] and years; Ederchil and Mith updated and expanded infoboxes; Mith and [[User:KingAragorn|KingAragorn]] trying to remove five-years of redirected links (with the aid of their bots);<ref name="Redirects">"[[Forum:Linking to redirects]]" (accessed [[24 November|November 24]], [[2010]])</ref><ref name="Redirects1">See "[https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AlmDTSjnmPrJdDFQSDU2QlMxN2hBYU80ZzVlemttVXc&hl=en_GB&authkey=CJeHxskG#gid=0 Redirects]" for progress (accessed [[24 November|November 24]], [[2010]])</ref> KingAragorn re-categorisation all location articles; [[User:Sage|Sage]] working on language-related articles; and [[User:Amroth|Amroth]] and [[User:Pinkkeith|Pinkkeith]] working on video-games articles. Other high-frequency editors include: [[User:Aule the Smith|Aule the Smith]], [[User:Gilgamesh|Gilgamesh]], [[User:Grond|Grond]], [[User:Mthomas|Mthomas]] and [[User:Theoden1|Theoden1]], along with the aforementioned [[User:KingAragorn Bot|KingAragorn Bot]] and [[User:Mithbot|Mithbot]].

During this time, many key projects were embarked upon by editors: the relatively new editor [[User:Morgan|Morgan]] working on bibliographical information;<ref name="Works">"[[Index:Writings by J.R.R. Tolkien|Writings by J.R.R. Tolkien]]" (accessed [[24 November|November 24]], [[2010]])</ref> Mith working on the [[Timeline]] and years; Ederchil and Mith updated and expanded infoboxes; Mith and [[User:KingAragorn|KingAragorn]] trying to remove five-years of redirected links (with the aid of their bots);<ref name="Redirects">"[[Forum:Linking to redirects]]" (accessed [[24 November|November 24]], [[2010]])</ref><ref name="Redirects1">See "[https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AlmDTSjnmPrJdDFQSDU2QlMxN2hBYU80ZzVlemttVXc&hl=en_GB&authkey=CJeHxskG#gid=0 Redirects]" for progress (accessed [[24 November|November 24]], [[2010]])</ref> KingAragorn re-categorisation all location articles; [[User:Sage|Sage]] working on language-related articles; and [[User:Amroth|Amroth]] and [[User:Pinkkeith|Pinkkeith]] working on video-games articles. Other high-frequency editors include: [[User:Aule the Smith|Aule the Smith]], [[User:Gilgamesh|Gilgamesh]], [[User:Grond|Grond]], [[User:Mthomas|Mthomas]] and [[User:Theoden1|Theoden1]], along with the aforementioned [[User:KingAragorn Bot|KingAragorn Bot]] and [[User:Mithbot|Mithbot]].

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====2011====

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{{Expansion}}

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[[File:TG-2012.png|thumb|Tolkien Gateway in January 2012]]

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In November 2011, the esteemed auction firm Bonhams included a reference to the Tolkien Gateway article on [[Przemyslaw Mroczkowski]] in their lot description of a [[Przemyslaw Mroczkowski 9/10 November 1957|1957 letter from J.R.R. Tolkien]] to the Polish professor.<ref>[http://bonhams.com/eur/auction/18992/lot/182/ Lot 182] at [http://bonhams.com/ Bonhams.com] (accessed 22 November 2011)</ref>

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Key projects in this period included: [[Forum:Countdown to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey|"The Countdown to ''The Hobbit'' films"-project]], after suggestion of [[User:KingAragorn|KingAragorn]];<ref>"[[Forum:Countdown to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey]]" (accessed [[1 January]], [[2012]])</ref><ref>"[[Tolkien Gateway talk:Meetings/13 November 2011]]" (accessed [[1 January]], [[2012]])</ref> the creation of the index namespace and [[Main Page/Development|development]] for a new [[Main Page]] by [[User:Mith|Mith]];<ref>"[[Main Page/Development]] (accessed [[1 January]], [[2012]])</ref> [[User:Mith|Mith]] and [[User:Hyarion|Hyarion]] working on technical issues and creating the new "Mithilien" skin; new editor Gamling creating articles for all [[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien|letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]] and referencing articles; Morgan continuing to work on bibliographic information;<ref name="Works"/> Mith working on [[Tolkien Gateway:Projects#Dates|Dates]]<ref>"[[User talk:Mith/2011#Date restructuring|User talk:Mith/2011]]" (accessed [[1 January]], [[2012]])</ref> and creating and redesigning several infoboxes; KingAragorn working on locations, images and redesigning the portals;<ref>"[[Forum:Portals]]" (accessed [[1 January]], [[2012]])</ref> [[User:Morgan|Morgan]] and [[User:Sage|Sage]] working on language-related articles; [[User:Amroth|Amroth]] and [[User:Pinkkeith|Pinkkeith]] working on gaming-related articles; and [[User:CaptainRolly|CaptainRolly]] working on [[Tolkien Societies]]. Other high-frequency contributors include: [[User:Dwarf Lord|Dwarf Lord]], [[User:Ederchil|Ederchil]], [[User:Grond|Grond]] and [[User:Tik|Tik]].

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====2012====

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{{Expansion}}

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In January [[2012]], news spread about [http://twitter.com/lotrproject Emil Johansson]'s ''[http://lotrproject.com/ The Lord of the Rings Family Tree Project]'' — a genealogy of characters from Tolkien's [[legendarium]], where each character carries a link to the respective Tolkien Gateway article.<ref>{{webcite|author=|articleurl=http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/01/23/53027-student-produces-middle-earth-genealogy-site/|articlename=Student produces Middle-earth genealogy site|dated=23 January 2012|website=TORN|accessed=24 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{webcite|author=|articleurl=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/01/24/lord-of-the-ring-family-tree_n_1227790.html?ref=uk-culture|articlename=King Geek? Lord Of The Rings Super Fan Traces Middle-Earth Family Tree|dated=24 January 2012|website=[http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ ''The Huffington Post'']|accessed=24 January 2012}}</ref>

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In September 2012, [[the Mythgard Institute]] podcast "[[Riddles in the Dark]]" episode 17, featuring [[Corey Olsen]], Dave Kale, and Trish Lambert as hosts, included a positive mention of articles (particularly [[Radagast]]) on Tolkien Gateway.<ref>{{webcite|author=|articleurl=http://www.mythgard.org/2012/09/riddles-in-the-dark-17-radagast-the-brown-and-the-movie-app/|articlename=Riddles in the Dark 17: Radagast the Brown and the Movie App|dated=14 September 2012|website=[http://www.mythgard.org/ Mythgard.org]|accessed=16 September 2012}}</ref>

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==Criticism==

==Criticism==

:''See also: [[wikipedia:Wiki#Trustworthiness|Wiki#Trustworthiness]] and [[wikipedia:Criticism of Wikipedia|Criticism of Wikipedia]] for criticism of wikis in general''

:''See also: [[wikipedia:Wiki#Trustworthiness|Wiki#Trustworthiness]] and [[wikipedia:Criticism of Wikipedia|Criticism of Wikipedia]] for criticism of wikis in general''

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Like other wikis, Tolkien Gateway has been criticised for the reliability of its information, its lack of sources and the frequency of its revisions. In particular, in the summer of [[2010]], Tolkien Gateway was criticised for confusing the two articles for [[Norman Power]] and [[Joseph Power]]; the prominent scholars [[Wayne G. Hammond]] and [[Christina Scull]] said:

Like other wikis, Tolkien Gateway has been criticised for the reliability of its information, its lack of sources and the frequency of its revisions. In particular, in the summer of [[2010]], Tolkien Gateway was criticised for confusing the two articles for [[Norman Power]] and [[Joseph Power]]; the prominent scholars [[Wayne G. Hammond]] and [[Christina Scull]] said:

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{{blockquote|The Tolkien Gateway entry for Norman Power makes a terrible hash of it by conjoining Norman and Joseph. How on earth could the writer think that someone said to be born in 1925 (Joseph) could be a student at Oxford in the late 1930s? [..] Well, call us old-fashioned (we do), and we admit to having only a passing knowledge of the ways of wiki-creation, but it would never occur to us to post a work-in-progress, to be cleaned up by someone else, especially since people often take wiki articles, in any state of completion, as gospel truth.|[[Wayne G. Hammond]] and [[Christina Scull]]<ref name="Power">[http://www.lotrplaza.com/ The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza], "[http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=229888#7238261 Brother Joseph Power's experiences of Tolkien, post #7238261]", dated [[26 July|July 26]], [[2010]] (accessed [[19 November|November 19]], [[2010]])</ref><ref name="Power2">[http://www.lotrplaza.com/ The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza], "[http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=229888#7239909 Brother Joseph Power's experiences of Tolkien, post #7239909]", dated [[29 July|July 29]], [[2010]] (accessed [[19 November|November 19]], [[2010]])</ref>}}

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{{Blockquote|The Tolkien Gateway entry for Norman Power makes a terrible hash of it by conjoining Norman and Joseph. How on earth could the writer think that someone said to be born in 1925 (Joseph) could be a student at Oxford in the late 1930s? [..] Well, call us old-fashioned (we do), and we admit to having only a passing knowledge of the ways of wiki-creation, but it would never occur to us to post a work-in-progress, to be cleaned up by someone else, especially since people often take wiki articles, in any state of completion, as gospel truth.|[[Wayne G. Hammond]] and [[Christina Scull]]<ref name="Power">[http://www.lotrplaza.com/ The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza], "[http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=229888#7238261 Brother Joseph Power's experiences of Tolkien, post #7238261]", dated [[26 July|July 26]], [[2010]] (accessed [[19 November|November 19]], [[2010]])</ref><ref name="Power2">[http://www.lotrplaza.com/ The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza], "[http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=229888#7239909 Brother Joseph Power's experiences of Tolkien, post #7239909]", dated [[29 July|July 29]], [[2010]] (accessed [[19 November|November 19]], [[2010]])</ref>}}

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Despite [[User:Morgan|Morgan]] launching a defence of Tolkien Gateway on The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza, although accepting that Tolkien Gateway was better than other online encyclopaedias, the members generally complained about the unreliability of Tolkien Gateway - and wikis in general - and the ephemeral nature of the Internet, with an agreement that there was a "''distressing lack of sources''".<ref name="Plaza Critic">[http://www.lotrplaza.com/ The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza], "[http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=238638 The future of Tolkien knowledge]", dated [[30 July|July 30]] to [[11 August|August 11]] [[2010]] (accessed [[19 November|November 19]], [[2010]])</ref> The article [http://tolkiengateway.net/w/index.php?title=English_and_Welsh&oldid=105660 English and Welsh] was paraded as a particularly bad example; once Morgan informed other [[Tolkien Gateway:Gatekeepers|Gatekeepers]] of this, [[User:KingAragorn|KingAragorn]] posed the question, "''If they have a problem with it, then what's stopping them from editing it?''", [[User:Aule the Smith|Aule the Smith]] retorted, "''A mix of snootiness and cranky technophobia, it would seem...''".<ref name="EandW">"[[Talk:English and Welsh]]" (accessed [[19 November|November 19]], [[2010]])</ref> In response to the criticisms raised, both the "Joseph Power"/"Norman Power" and "[[English and Welsh]]" articles have been amended.

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Despite [[User:Morgan|Morgan]] launching a defence of Tolkien Gateway on The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza, although accepting that Tolkien Gateway was better than other online encyclopaedias, the members generally complained about the unreliability of Tolkien Gateway - and wikis in general - and the ephemeral nature of the Internet, with an agreement that there was a "''distressing lack of sources''".<ref name="Plaza Critic">[http://www.lotrplaza.com/ The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza], "[http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=238638 The future of Tolkien knowledge]", dated [[30 July|July 30]] to [[11 August|August 11]] [[2010]] (accessed [[19 November|November 19]], [[2010]])</ref> The article [http://tolkiengateway.net/w/index.php?title=English_and_Welsh&oldid=105660 English and Welsh] was paraded as a particularly bad example. In response to the criticisms raised, both the "Joseph Power"/"Norman Power" and "[[English and Welsh]]" articles were amended.<ref name="EandW">"[[Talk:English and Welsh]]" (accessed [[19 November|November 19]], [[2010]])</ref>

In a review of Tolkien Gateway, Kristine Kastle claimed that it was only appropriate for the younger reader, it suffered from poor navigation, and the design was basic, lacking colour and that the life was sucked out of it; she gave Tolkien Gateway a score of 1.5 out of 4 which translates as, "''Well now at least the website is recognizable as a website; style is still not pretty much nonexistant.''"<ref name="Kastle">Kristine Kastle on [http://people.emich.edu/zgarrett/ColProject/ Collaborative Web Review], "[http://people.emich.edu/zgarrett/ColProject/3.html Tolkien Gateway Review]" (accessed [[19 November|November 19]], [[2010]])</ref> The skin has been updated twice since the review although the navigation system has changed little.<ref name="Updates">"[[Tolkien Gateway:Updates]]" (accessed [[19 November|November 19]], [[2010]])</ref>

In a review of Tolkien Gateway, Kristine Kastle claimed that it was only appropriate for the younger reader, it suffered from poor navigation, and the design was basic, lacking colour and that the life was sucked out of it; she gave Tolkien Gateway a score of 1.5 out of 4 which translates as, "''Well now at least the website is recognizable as a website; style is still not pretty much nonexistant.''"<ref name="Kastle">Kristine Kastle on [http://people.emich.edu/zgarrett/ColProject/ Collaborative Web Review], "[http://people.emich.edu/zgarrett/ColProject/3.html Tolkien Gateway Review]" (accessed [[19 November|November 19]], [[2010]])</ref> The skin has been updated twice since the review although the navigation system has changed little.<ref name="Updates">"[[Tolkien Gateway:Updates]]" (accessed [[19 November|November 19]], [[2010]])</ref>

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Commenting on Tolkien Gateway, Troels Forchhammer says that "''[i]t suffers from the same problems as any wiki when the subject is one of some fame or notoriety and in particular when the subject lends itself to strongly held opinions''". He also marks that Tolkien Gateway is "''trying to add thorough references to their articles, but has still a way to go''."<ref>[http://users.silenceisdefeat.net/~aft-rabt/links.html The Tolkien Newsgroups' Links Collection], dated 5 August 2008 (accessed 26 April 2011)</ref>

Commenting on Tolkien Gateway, Troels Forchhammer says that "''[i]t suffers from the same problems as any wiki when the subject is one of some fame or notoriety and in particular when the subject lends itself to strongly held opinions''". He also marks that Tolkien Gateway is "''trying to add thorough references to their articles, but has still a way to go''."<ref>[http://users.silenceisdefeat.net/~aft-rabt/links.html The Tolkien Newsgroups' Links Collection], dated 5 August 2008 (accessed 26 April 2011)</ref>

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==See Also==

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After a suggestion from [[User:Morgan]], [[Hawke Robinson]] and [[Michael Martinez]] discussed Tolkien Gateway on the ''Middle-earth Radio Talk Show'' on [[8 August]] [[2010]]. The radio hosts put forward a "''positive critique''", praising Tolkien Gateway for "''a great effort''", "''a nice layout''", and that the website should be "''recognized for all the work that has gone into this wiki''". However, they also addressed the issue that "''as all wikis, there's always room for improvement''", especially pointing out the need for "''better citation standards''".<ref>[http://middle-earthradio.com/talk-show/Middle-earth-Talk-Radio-Show-0029-2010-08-08.mp3/view Middle-earth Radion Talk Show, Episode 29] (dated 8 August 2010; from ca. 27:50) at [http://middle-earthradio.com/ Middle-earthradio.com]</ref>

Tolkien Gateway (or simply TG) is a not-for-profit collaborative wiki devoted to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, being the largest Tolkien-related encyclopedia on the World Wide Web.[1] It strives to be the most extensive and complete online resource with content relating not just to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien but also information on Tolkien-related images, adaptations, people, places, events, societies, and other works of scholarly and academic interest.

Contents

Objective

Tolkien Gateway is determined to inform you as much as possible about J.R.R. Tolkien and his masterpieces. Our goal is to have the most complete database about Middle-earth and Tolkien as possible.—Hyarion

2005

In January2005 Tolkien Gateway's IRC chat was opened; this enabled both Tolkien Gateway editors and users from other websites to congregate in a single place for discussion of their respective websites and the works of Tolkien.[17] Tolkien Gateway's IRC, irc://irc.tolkiengateway.net, is still in use today.

After a long hiatus, Tolkien Gateway opened to the public on June 3 with Hyarion as the sole administrator and bureaucrat. In order for Tolkien Gateway to have a sizeable number of articles ready for its released, many were copied from either The Encyclopedia of Arda or Wikipedia; this has since been criticised by later editors who have struggled to identify and update all such articles.[18]

Technically, 2006 was a very important year for Tolkien Gateway: it saw the introduction of the fresh Cavendish skin, the creation of a forum for editors to discuss important issues, a community portal, and the ability to embed video. Furthermore, 2006 witnessed impressive growth in page views: from less than 200,000 page views at the start of the year to a million by October, by this point Tolkien Gateway was also witnessing 3,000 pages views per day.[5]

2007

Tolkien Gateway in July 2006

Although technically relatively uneventful, 2007 saw attempts by Hyarion to increase Tolkien Gateway's user base and reach. In particular, coinciding with the release of The Children of Húrin Hyarion arranged The Children of Húrin Release Party an online gathering of artists, collectors, scholars and fans to celebrate the publication of this fresh story; a record-breaking 69 new users joined Tolkien Gateway in April 2007 as a result of this.[9] Coinciding with The Children of Húrin Release Party, Hyarion also introduced a brand new Main Page layout which still remains the basis for the current Main Page.

On October 4, Hyarion introduced interwiki links allowing Tolkien Gateway's English articles to be connected to the fellow wikis Ardapedia (German) and Kontu (Finnish).[7] Since then, interwiki links have also been expanded to the French website Tolkiendil and Farsi website Valimar.

2008

Tolkien Gateway in June 2008

The first major event of 2008 was a server move, "Due to the rapid growth of Tolkien Gateway we will be migrating to a new quad-core server with 8 gigs of RAM."[19] Tolkien Gateway moves server on roughly a year basis every time resulting in considerable downtime and residual problems; this move was no exception![20]

On April 30, 2008 the first major extension to the wiki's content was the creation of a map which seeks to list all the important locations in the world relevant to Tolkien's life, publications and adaptations.[8] The expansion of the wiki continues, reaching 7,000 articles by July 12[10] whilst gaining an extra 366 members over the course of the year, taking the total membership to 788.[9]

In the summer, Hyarion revealed to editors that he had been in discussions with the the administrators of One Wiki to Rule Them All, the Tolkien encyclopedia of Wikia, to merge the two sites together. Although the proposal wasn't fully fleshed-out, members of both communities got so far as registering their intention to vote on the issue before Wikia staff decided they were unwilling to let go of their own site - the merger never took place.[21] A happy side-effect, however, is that many One Wiki editors migrated permanently to Tolkien Gateway, including the One Wiki bureaucrat KingAragorn.[22]

what a shame. It's almost comical that they ignored the wiki until there were any talks of leaving, at which point they realized they'd be losing money so they now have all of their employees pretending to be active contributors. Anyway, we're moving past it, they are not worth the time—Hyarion on Wikia's staff attitude towards a merger of Tolkien Gateway and One Wiki to Rule Them All[22]

On 25 August, KingAragorn contacted TheOneRing.net with a proposition that Tolkien Gateway and TheOneRing.net should work in co-operation. The general premise was that the two online Tolkien communities were consubstantial and should, therefore, work together for each other's benefit. The discussion was, at first, progressive; it was mooted that, in effect, Tolkien Gateway would become TheOneRing.net's encyclopaedia, and that TheOneRing.net would become Tolkien Gateway's news portal. However, discussions came to an end because of an apparent bad history between Hyarion, the owner of Tolkien Gateway, and TheOneRing.net. Whilst there was reciprocal praise for the work achieved by both communities, no further discussions took place.[25]

Finally, on August 26, the "Gateway to Ithilien" was made the default skin for Tolkien Gateway, and - with minor alterations - still remains the default skin today.[12]

2009

Apart from another difficult server move,[26]2009 was a relatively uneventful year for Tolkien Gateway and its editors. Despite this, Tolkien Gateway gained the largest number of editors in any year (481),[9] as well as passing the threshold of 8,000 articles.

2010

Tolkien Gateway in November 2010

2010 started eventfully for Tolkien Gateway as a new editor, Gilgamesh, including Quenya and Sindarin declension templates in the majority of articles - this led to an intense discussion between Gilgamesh on the one hand, and Ederchil, Mith and Sage on the other (arguing that their appearance and canonicity were questionable). Eventually, all the templates were removed.[27]

Despite reaching its fifth birthday (as a wiki) this was left uncelebrated by the editors. Indeed, some editors expressed disquiet about existing technical problems, the paucity of editors and the inactivity of Hyarion with some editors suggesting that the project should be forked. Following this, Tolkien Gateway witness a re-emergence of its meetings,[24] Hyarion became more active (updating the MediaWiki software), Ederchil was promoted to a bureaucrat and Mith was promoted to administrator/sysop.[28] It was also at this time that, with great reluctance,[29] that members of the community decided to lock Tolkien Gateway to anonymous editors; this was in order to prevent the large numbers of spammers who were vandalising articles.[13]

During this time, many key projects were embarked upon by editors: the relatively new editor Morgan working on bibliographical information;[31] Mith working on the Timeline and years; Ederchil and Mith updated and expanded infoboxes; Mith and KingAragorn trying to remove five-years of redirected links (with the aid of their bots);[32][33] KingAragorn re-categorisation all location articles; Sage working on language-related articles; and Amroth and Pinkkeith working on video-games articles. Other high-frequency editors include: Aule the Smith, Gilgamesh, Grond, Mthomas and Theoden1, along with the aforementioned KingAragorn Bot and Mithbot.

2011

"...It is a long tale..." — Aragorn
This article or section needs expansion and/or modification. Please help the wiki by expanding it.

Criticism

Like other wikis, Tolkien Gateway has been criticised for the reliability of its information, its lack of sources and the frequency of its revisions. In particular, in the summer of 2010, Tolkien Gateway was criticised for confusing the two articles for Norman Power and Joseph Power; the prominent scholars Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull said:

The Tolkien Gateway entry for Norman Power makes a terrible hash of it by conjoining Norman and Joseph. How on earth could the writer think that someone said to be born in 1925 (Joseph) could be a student at Oxford in the late 1930s? [..] Well, call us old-fashioned (we do), and we admit to having only a passing knowledge of the ways of wiki-creation, but it would never occur to us to post a work-in-progress, to be cleaned up by someone else, especially since people often take wiki articles, in any state of completion, as gospel truth.—Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull[43][44]

Despite Morgan launching a defence of Tolkien Gateway on The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza, although accepting that Tolkien Gateway was better than other online encyclopaedias, the members generally complained about the unreliability of Tolkien Gateway - and wikis in general - and the ephemeral nature of the Internet, with an agreement that there was a "distressing lack of sources".[45] The article English and Welsh was paraded as a particularly bad example. In response to the criticisms raised, both the "Joseph Power"/"Norman Power" and "English and Welsh" articles were amended.[46]

In a review of Tolkien Gateway, Kristine Kastle claimed that it was only appropriate for the younger reader, it suffered from poor navigation, and the design was basic, lacking colour and that the life was sucked out of it; she gave Tolkien Gateway a score of 1.5 out of 4 which translates as, "Well now at least the website is recognizable as a website; style is still not pretty much nonexistant."[47] The skin has been updated twice since the review although the navigation system has changed little.[20]

Commenting on Tolkien Gateway, Troels Forchhammer says that "[i]t suffers from the same problems as any wiki when the subject is one of some fame or notoriety and in particular when the subject lends itself to strongly held opinions". He also marks that Tolkien Gateway is "trying to add thorough references to their articles, but has still a way to go."[48]

After a suggestion from User:Morgan, Hawke Robinson and Michael Martinez discussed Tolkien Gateway on the Middle-earth Radio Talk Show on 8 August2010. The radio hosts put forward a "positive critique", praising Tolkien Gateway for "a great effort", "a nice layout", and that the website should be "recognized for all the work that has gone into this wiki". However, they also addressed the issue that "as all wikis, there's always room for improvement", especially pointing out the need for "better citation standards".[49]